Feb. 28 outage leaves almost 4K without power
Power outage Feb. 28 had nearly 4,000 Northern Lights customers in Boundary and Bonner counties and Montana’s Lincoln County out of power.
Image courtesy of NORTHERN LIGHTS
MOYIE SPRINGS — A Feb. 28 power outage including the city of Moyie Springs and surrounding areas affected almost 4,000 residents in the region.
The power outage affected Boundary and Bonner counties and Montana’s Lincoln County in the Northern Lights service area. Officials said 3,956 customers were without power as of 7 a.m. on Feb. 28. Due to the heavy snow across the county and the power outage at Boundary County School District, schools were closed for the day.
“The city had a power line that went down near Katka in a fairly remote part of our electrical transmission system,” said Mike Klaus, city engineer for Bonners Ferry.
“That transmission line provided one of our two paths for power to Moyie Springs. The single path that was left for routing power was not adequate to safely serve all of our customers until the Katka transmission line was repaired,” Klaus said.
Since the line break was in a forested area with limited access, the city’s street crew cleared a path for the electric department to be able to access the damaged line with the equipment needed to complete the repair, Klaus said.
In case of a power outage, follow these basic rules:
• Check your breakers or fuses to make sure the trouble is not in your electrical system.
• If you have determined that your system is OK, call your provider’s outage line as soon as possible.
• Tune to the local radio station or check provider’s website for updates.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
• Stay away from downed power lines.
• Do not try to assist emergency and utility crews.
• Use extreme caution when cleaning up storm damage on your property.
• Be safe.
To report an outage, call the Northern Lights Outage Reporting System at 1-866-665-4837, or report the outage via a text message.
This allows residents to report a problem and get status updates. To use this service, make sure your on file cellphone number is current. Call NLI at 1-800-326-9594 to speak to a member service specialist and ask that your account be updated with your current cellphone number. Once your cellphone number is up to date, you can opt in.
To join, simply text “NLI” to 1-866-665-4837. A response will be generated confirming your service location. Confirm your location by texting back the appropriate response.
To report a power outage, text “OUT” to 1-866-665-4837 and follow the prompts. For outage updates, text “STATUS.” Updates are available after line crews are on location and evaluate the situation. When service is restored for all members impacted by the outage, you will receive a text that power has been restored.
This service from NLI is free, although messaging and data rates from cellphone providers may apply.